20030202: Question about adding a new surface station

Bob,

When dcmetr creates the surface file for the operational
data, the number of stations allowed in the file is
determined by the number of stations in the station table,
plus the number of additional stations to add (the -a
parameter to dcmetr). You can only add your station to the
file if there is room for an additional station to be added.
In dcmetr, when a metar observation is found for a
station that isn't in the station table, the station will be
added (with lat & lon set to -9999) if there is available space,
so you probably don't have any room to add your new station in the 
existing file..

Since you have added SNC to your sfmetar_sa.tbk file, the next 
time dcmetr creates a new file, the station will be in the file,
so you won't have that problem.

To add your station to the current file that was created before you 
added SNC to the station table, and does not have any remaining
room for new stations, create a new surface file with SFCFIL
(using sfmetar_sa.tbl and the packing file metar.pack,and
timstn=72/1000). If SNC is in the sfmetar_sa.tbl, it will be in your 
new surface file. The timstn above will allow space for 72 times 
(which is the typical dcmetr configuration, and 1000 extra stations).

Then, use SFMOD to move your current surface data file into
the new file, and you can run SFEDIT to add your new SNC data.

Changes to the station table used by dcmetr only take effect when a new 
file is created (usually once per day). So, SNC should be in your
regularly created file tomorrow.

Steve Chiswell




>From: "Robert J. Ballentine" <address@hidden>
>Organization: UCAR/Unidata
>Keywords: 200302021944.h12JiX616886

>Support:
>   I am running LDM-2.2 on a Pentium 4 under Red Hat 7.3.
>The LDM is running great, but I would like to be able to
>add some new surface reports from a research project so
>that we can view the reports, along with all the rest of
>the regular surface reports, using GARP/NAWIPS-5.6.
>
>   I added the following to my sfmetar_sa.tbl file for
>one of the new stations called SNC:
>
>SNC       99999 STERLING NATURE CENTER           NY US  4338  -7666   100
>
>following the exact format as the other stations in the
>file.
>   Next, I created sfile using a text editor for use in
>sfedit which I assume can be used to add data to my gempak
>file 20030202_sao.gem. My /home/ldm/sfile is:
>
> PARM = DRCT;SKNT;TMPC;DWPC;ALTI
>
>    STN    YYMMDD/HHMM      DRCT     SKNT     TMPC     DWPC     ALTI
>    SNC    030202/1500    310.00    12.00     0.60    -1.70    29.43
>
>My sfedit listing is as follows:
>met-62.oswego.edu: 1 % source /apps/NAWIPS/Gemenviron
>met-62.oswego.edu: 2 % sfedit
> SFEFIL    Surface edit file                 /home/ldm/sfile
> SFFILE    Surface data file                 /var/data/ldm/gempak/surface/2003
> 0202_sao.gem
> Parameters requested: SFEFIL,SFFILE.
> GEMPAK-SFEDIT>r
>
> SFEDIT PARAMETERS:
>
> Edit file:           /home/ldm/sfile
> Output surface file: /var/data/ldm/gempak/surface/20030202_sao.gem
>
> Parameters to be added to file:
>
> DRCT SKNT TMPC DWPC ALTI
>Enter <cr> to accept parameters or type EXIT:
> [SFEDIT 2]  Station SNC cannot be added to the file.
>
>   Since sfedit seems to know which parameters I want, it must
>have read sfile, but apparently it doesn't know about the new
>station.  So I added the station SNC, using the vi editor, to
>the file sfstns.tbl in three GEMPAK directories.  However,
>sfedit still won't add SNC to my 20030202_sao.gem file.
>
>   I tried using the program SFSTNS with the file mystn.dat
>consisting of:
>
>met-62.oswego.edu: 58 % cat mystn.dat
> SNC       99999 STERLING NATURE CENTER           NY US  4338  -7666   100
>
>When I ran the program, I got the following:
>
> SFFILE    Surface data file                 /var/data/ldm/gempak/surface/2003
> 0202_sao.gem
> STNFIL    Station information file          mystn.dat
> ADDSTN    Add station flag                  YES
> IDNTYP    STNM or STID                      stid
> Parameters requested: SFFILE,STNFIL,ADDSTN,IDNTYP.
> GEMPAK-SFSTNS>r
> Attempting to add      1 stations
> [SF -5]  Station ... cannot be added to the file--no more room.
> There were      0 stations added.
>
>   I have run out of ideas.  Can you help me figure out how to
>get the new station and its data into the gempak sao file so
>that it can be displayed using sflist and GARP?
>   Thanks,
>   Bob
>